Thursday, October 4, 2012

the faces I adore

This is it –
the final push, the last leg of this journey.At times it feels like I have been in Rwanda forever, but not in a bad
way.It feels normal to be here.It feels like home, although it certainly
lacks all the creature comforts of my actual home in the States (if I were to
actually have a home and not have my life stockpiled in a 10x15 storage unit).There are other times though when I look at
all I have left to do while I am here and it doesn’t quite seem possible that I
only have a few weeks left in this country I have grown to respect and appreciate.Most of all, I cannot believe that my time is
so limited with the kids of Agahozo.

I spent so much of the first term observing, learning, and
asking questions.We were all somewhat
thrown into this experience with a loose idea of our roles and
responsibilities, and over time we have had the opportunity to more fully
define our purpose here and autonomously choose how to interact with the
students.The second term was a
whirlwind filled with 97 overnight guests and 67 day visitors. I was thoroughly
exhausted when the term came to a close and was so thankful that I had 6 weeks
to recover.I often heard the students saying, "cousin, where have you been? Why do I not see you?" The truth of the matter was that very little of my time was spent with the students of Agahozo because I was tending to the needs of the various student groups from America who were volunteering their time in the Village. Although I have far fewer visitors and guests
for whom I am responsible for this term, my days seem to be busier than
ever.Writing reports and “instructions”
for the next group of fellows takes up many of the morning hours and then I seem to be
spending countless hours each afternoon with students helping them revise research papers
(teaching them that cutting and pasting from Wikipedia does not a research
paper make), tutoring English, painting fingernails, taking photos … I want to
do it all and leave no stone unturned when it comes to them.

Just yesterday I sat with one of my girls for
90 minutes as she read a story about horses to me.It was precious time that I could not have
imagined spending any other way. (Note: when she arrived in the Village 10 months ago, she didn't know any English at all and here she is reading a book to me!) On
Monday, I taught one of my girls the song “Mama Mia” which was utterly
enchanting! Each day brings new surprises and delights and I have come to
cherish each and every one of them. The students' giggles bring me joy, their never-ending questions fill me with pride, and the ways in which they show me they care make me melt. The
students at Agahozo have become my purpose in life for this term, and I have
discovered how much I truly love and care about them.While being away from the Village for 6 weeks
over vacation, I realized that it is the the students in Agahozo who make each
of my days complete.They are the ones
who make me laugh like a little kid again, they have helped me rediscover my
silly side, and they have broken into my stoic heart and made themselves at
home.I adore them and I already dread
the forthcoming farewell when they leave for term break and I leave to return
to America.

There is a facebook photo album for Agahozo-Shalom
Youth Village titled "Faces of Agahozo." These are a few of the faces I adore.

About Me

I grew up in the quaint town of Novelty, Ohio, with 3 older brothers and extraordinary parents. I am a 3-time graduate of Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA) - B.S. in Marketing (2002), and a B.A. in Theatre (2003). Upon graduation, I attended a post-baccalaureate acting program in association with The Moscow Art Theatre and The American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA. I then spent several years traveling and working around the country. For the past 5 years, I had been working at a selective University as Associate Director of Admissions and Alumni Education, recruiting students in the SE U.S., Hawaii, and Guam, as well as Directing both the Alumni Admissions Outreach Volunteer Program and Legacy Program. I completed my M.Ed. in Globalization and Educational Change in May, 2011, focusing on international education development in sub-Saharan Africa, which prompted me to take my acquired skills and combine them with my lifelong dream to live and work in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2012, I served as the International Coordinator and a member of the 2012 JDC Service Corps at the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village. Two last bits – I LOVE peanut butter & I love being barefoot!